Retaining latch for carrier trolleys



June 17, 1924. 1,497,681

W. GUTENKUNST RETAINING LATCH [FOR CARRIER TROLLEYS Filed May 5, 1923Fig.1. T

Patented June 17, 1924.

WILLIAM GUTENKUN'ST, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

RE'I'ADTING LATCH FOR CARRIER TRJOLLEYS.

Application filed May 3, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM GU'rnN- KUNST, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State ofWisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in RetainingLatches for Carrier Trolleys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in retaining latches for thetrolleys of suspended carriers, said latches being designed to preventthe trolley wheels from leaving the track by engaging underneath thetrack when the wheel tends to lift therefrom.

The object of this invention is to provide a form of latch adapted toperform its function underneath track members of differing depths, i.e., of different dimensions invertical section; also to provide a formof latch which may be automatically retracted laterally upon approachingan obstruction in its normal line of travel; also to provide a form oflatch which may be laterally retracted to carry one portion out of itsoperative position underneath a. trackway and to substituteanotherportion at a different level for the performance of the retainingfunction underneath a section of trackway of different depth; also toprovide a latch. with means carried thereby for deflecting it from oneretaining position to another retaining position in accordance withtherequirements of trackways having portions depending from thesurfaceengaged by the trolley wheel to a greater extent than otherportions. a

In overhead carriers it is common to employ wires or cables supporteda'tintervals by hanger bars and relatively rigid track; rails orsections to the ends of which the wires are coupled. These hangersupported track rails are relatively deep, i. e., their. verticaldimension is considerably in excess of that of the wireor cable. Thismakes it diflicult to employ. latchesfor holding the trolley wheel tothe track by engagement underneath the trackway, because, when the wheelis travelin along the wire, the latch in proximity to 518 wire will beobstructed by the increased depth of beam in the hanger supported trackrail, ,and'will alsobe obstructed by the coupling member, although theneed of a retaining latch isincreased where the wheel is passing overthe coupling member.

Serial No. 636,381.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation showing one of the hangers of an overheadtrack with a portion of an associated supporting rail and coupling,including a, fragment of a track wire coupled thereto, and also showinga trolley harp and wheel as it appears when tralveling over saidcoupling member and mi Figure 2 is a side elevation of; the same,showing the track wire in cross section.

Figure 3 is a sectional view drawn to line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure is a sectional View drawn to line H of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the lower portion ofthetrolley, drawn to the same plane as in'Figure 3, tyfndshpwing the latchin normal pos1tion,.1 e.,.as it appears when a trolley Wheel istraveling along the wire or cable.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughoutthe several views.

The track wire 1 is coupled to the supporting member or rail 2 by acoupling member 3. The rail 2 is supportedby'the hanger 4. The carrierwheel or trolley 5 is journaled in a frame or so-called harp (j whichextends downwardly along the side of the track opposite the supportinghanger 4 and is adapted to support a container or other object to becarried in a suspended position along the trackway. All of the abovementioned parts maybe assumed to be of any ordinary construction.

A retaining trigger or latch member 7 is pivoted to the lower portion ofthe harp 18, the harp being provided with. an L-shaped lower end, intheangleof which projecting ears 9 are located. The pivot pin or bolt 8extends thi'ouglrthese ears and through an eyepiece 10 at the lower endof the latch member 7. A coil .spr in 11 is seated in a suitablesocketed boss 12 ormed in the harp,

and the opposite endof this'spring presses against the latch member 7,the latter being provided with an anchoring stud '13 to re ceive the endof thespring. The latch member 7 has an outwardly projecting arm 14which extends through an opening'l5 in the harp and carries an upwardlyprojecting lip 16 which is adapted to engage the harp above the opening15 to limit'the inwardly s nging mo ment of he'l c und r are? pressureof the spring 11. The elbowed portion 20 of the latch member carries aprojection 21 adapted, when the latch is in normal position, to extendin close proximity to the outer peripheral flange 22 of the trolleywheel. When in this position the upper surface of the arm 14 will beinclined as clearly shown in Figure 5, and near the end provided withthe lip 16, it will be in close proximity to the inner peripheral margin24 of the trolley wheel.

The latch member 7 is also provided with an arm 25 which projects fromthe opposite side of the latch member from that occupied by the arm 14.The latch member is also provided with a shoulder at 26 between theprojections 21 and 25, whereby the portion of the latch member 7 towhich the arm 14 is attached is offset in the direction of said arm fromthe lower portion of such latch member which carries the arm 25.

When the latch member is in normal position, as shown in Figure 5, it isadapted to prevent the trolley wheel 5 from leaving the cable 1. Thewheel cannot lift from the cable without lifting the latch membercorrespondingly, whereby the arm 14 will, by engagement with the cable,limit the upward movement of the wheel. Any tendency of the wheel tomove laterally is also prevented, since the space between the latchmember and the wheel flanges 22 and 24 is too small to allow the cableto pass. But when the latch member is retracted by engagement with theobliquely disposed end portion29 of a coupling member, the arm 25 servesas a retaining arm to prevent the trolley wheel from jumping the trackor upper surface of the coupling member, this arm 25 being then in theposition in which it is illustrated in Figure 3, whereby any upwardmovement of the trolley wheel will bring the-arm 25 into engagement withthe beam of the coupling member to limit the upward movement of thewheel and harp.

The shouldered portion 26 is utilized for sliding engagement with thelower marginal portion or base flange of the rail 2, whereby the portion27 of the latch arm is kept away from the rail so that it will clear theheads 28 of bolts or rivets connecting the web flanges of the rail withthe hanger and with the couplin member.

The portion of the latch member between the elbow 20 and the arm 25 isprovided with obliquely disposed wing flanges 30 and 31. flanking thelatch member on opposite sides thereof and adapted to co-operate withthe obliquely disposed surfaces 219 of the coupling members 3 to ensurethe retraction of the latch and prevent the latch frompassing to thewrong side of the couplin member, which might otherwise occur if t ecarrier should be swayin at the time it reaches the track coupling. heshort arm. of the trolley frame or harp is also provided with a crossbar guide 32 having its respective ends slightly outturned or obliquelyfaced to prevent this arm from catching against the ends of the couplingmembers, which are of slightly increased width as compared with thethickness of the wire or cable 1.

I claim:

1. The combination with the trolley wheel and harp of a suspendedcarrier, of a laterally movable latch adapted, in one position, forholding the wheel to a track of ordinary vertical dimensions and inanother position, for holding the wheel to a track of greater verticaldimensions.

2. The combination with the trolley wheel and bar of a'suspendedcarrier, of means for continuously retaining the wheel upon a tracknotwithstanding variations in the vertical dimensions of the trackgreater than the normal distance between the retaining means and thewheel.

3. The combination with the trolley wheel and harp of a suspendedcarrier, of a movable latch provided with arms at different levelsadapted to project underneath trackways having different cross sectionaldimensions in the vertical plane, and means for automatically moving thelatch to retract one arm from beneath a trackway and place the other armin operative position when the wheel is passing from one track sectionto another of different dimensions.

4. The combination of a trolley wheel adapted to sfipport a suspendedcarrier from an overhead track, a hanger member in which said trolleywheel is ournaled, a transversely movable latch having portions normallyin close proximity to the respective side flanges of the wheel andprovided with a shoe having oblique surfaces whereby the latch may becrowded laterally from normal position by an obstruction in its path,and an arm carried by an intermediate portion of the latch and adaptedto project under the trolley wheel at a greater distance therefrom thanthe first mentioned portions thereof.

5. The combination with a trolley wheel and harp, of a latch memberprovided with a plurality of keeper arms offset from each other andlocated at different distances from the wheel, one of said arms beingada ted to retain the wheel upon a cable trac way when the latch memberis in normal position and the other being adapted to retain the wheelupon a trackway of deeper cross section when the latch member is in aretracted position.

6. The combination with a trolley wheel and harp of a latch" memberpivoted to the lower portion of the harp and projecting upwardly towardthe under side of the wheel, an elbowed arm having an extremity adaptedto engage the harp to limit the swinging movement of the latch in onedirection, a spring arranged to urge the latch in such direction, andanother arm connected with the latch between its pivotal axis and saidelbowed arm and projecting in the opposite direction.

7. The combination with a trolley wheel and harp,

of a latch member provided with a pluralit of keeper arms projecting inopposite irections and at different levels, and means carried by thelatch for encountering an obstruction in the path thereof to retract thesame, together with its upper arm, out of the path of the obstructionwhile allowing the lower arm to pass beneath it in wheel retainingrelation thereto.

8. The combination with a trolley wheel and harp, of a latch memberpivotally connected with the harp and projecting upwardly in thedirection of the wheel and adapted at its upper end to be retracted inthe direction of the harp, a retaining arm carried by the upper endportion-of the latch member and extending into interlocking relation tothe harp to limit the movement of the latch member away from the harp,another arm projecting in the opposite direction from the latch memberat a lower level, means for urging the upper portion of the latch memberoutwardly from the harp to carry the upper arm into wheel retainingrelation to a track wire, and a cross arm carried by the latch andprovided with an oblique face for contact with a track rail extendingbelow the level of said track wire to retract the latch while passingalong said track rail.

9. The combination with a trolley wheel and harp, of a latch memberpivotally connected with the harp and projecting upwardly in thedirection of the wheel and adapted at its upper end to be retracted inthe direction of the harp. a retaining arm carried by the upper endportion of the latch member and extending into interlocking relation tothe harp to limit the movement of the latch member away from the harp,another arm projecting in the opposite direction from the latch memberat a lower level, means for urging the upper portion of the latch memberoutwardly from the harp to carry the upper arm into wheel retainingrelation to a track wire, and a. cross arm carried by the latch and provided with an oblique face for contact with a track rail extending belowthe level of said track wire to retract the latch while passing alongsaid track rail, said latch having a shoulder adapted for sliding bearinpressure upon one portion of the track rai to hold other portions of thelatch out of contact therewith.

10. The combination with a supporting track rail, track Wire, andcoupling for connecting the track wire to the track rail, of a trolleyand harp in which the trolley wheel is journaled having one portiondepending from one side of the trolle wheel below the track, a laterallymovable latch member carried by the depending portion of the harp andhaving one portion in normal wheel retaining relation to the track wire,and another portion adapted to be adjusted in a wheel retaining relationto the track rail and coupling when the latch memher is retracted fromnormal position, and means for automatically retracting the latch memberwhen the wheel approaches a track rail and coupling member.

11. The combination with a trolley wheel and harp, of a laterallymovable latch member flanked at the front and rear by obliquely disposedlatch retracting arms, said latch member having one portion adapted tonormally extend underneath a track wire in close proximity thereto, andanother portion adapted, when the latch is retracted, to travelunderneath a coupling member and track rail of predetermined verticaldimensions greater than that of the track wire to retain the wheel uponthe coupling member and track rail while passing thereover.

WILLIAM GUTEN K UN ST.

